(LOUISVILLE) -- Three young children are being honored by the Louisville Kennel Club, after they saved the life of a dog left for dead. Unfazed by the horrid conditions, or that the animal abandoned was a pit bull, these three "canine heroes" learned there's more to a dog, than meets the eye. WAVE 3 Investigator Eric Flack has their story.

Ten-year-old Nick Peak, 11-year-old Wyatt Medley, and his 6-year-old brother, Tristen, like to watch out for their neighbors.

"They're always rescuing something whether it be a salamander or a bug," says Wyatt and Tristen's mom, Robin.

So they boys weren't bothered when the animal that needed saving was a pit bull named "Bush."

"It would take a kid to do it honestly," said Lindsay Simmons, a Vet Tech at Stonefield Veterinary Associates in Louisville, which is now caring for Bush. "Because they don't know the hype, they don't know all the misconceptions."

The boys heard the call for help a couple weeks ago, while clearing brush behind their southwest Jefferson County homes.

"It sounded like a screeching kind of bark," Nick remembered.

They followed the howls to a chain link pen four doors down.

"The dog seemed kind of friendly," Wyatt said. "So we went in and there was poop everywhere."

Bush was starving. For food, water -- and attention.

"He was excited," Nick said. "He was jumping all the way up and touching the roof," Wyatt added, touching his hand to the tin roof of the 5-foot pen.

Bush had been abandoned for weeks. His owners moved out and just left him behind.

Knowing the breed, and its reputation, the boys decided their options were limited.

"If the pound would get it, they would kill it because they don't accept those dogs," Nick realized.

So Nick, Wyatt and Tristen decided they would take care of Bush. The water came from a nearby creek. The boys snuck food from homes.

For two weeks, the boys cared for bush behind their parents' back. But the dog was still losing weight -- from worms as it turned out. So the boys finally came clean, with just one request: don't let them put Bush to sleep.

"I mean if I didn't already have two dogs and two cats myself we would probably have the dog," Robin Medley said.

Instead, she called her councilman, who called the Louisville Kennel Club, who called Stonefield last Friday.

"We've all fallen in love with him," Simmons said as she held Bush in her lap.

For sure, Bush, about as calm and docile a pit bull as they come, has a fan club.